The extent to which he has his career back up and running is a focal point of Sunday's Bears-at-Browns game.

Having spent 2012 with Chicago on a one-year contract, Campbell says the Bears made him an offer to return, but he didn't want to be buried behind Jay Cutler.

"I wanted to put myself in position to play," Campbell said, "to go somewhere I had a chance to get back on the field."

When he signed with the Browns on March 26, Brandon Weeden and Colt McCoy were the competition. The Bears signed Josh McCown three days later. The Browns didn't sign Brian Hoyer until May 17.

All of them were in for some surprises.

As for Campbell, he is preparing for his sixth start as a Brown, against the Bears, perhaps against McCown.

"I had a good time with those guys," Campbell said of his year as a Bear. "It was the total opposite of this team. This team is young. That team was a veteran team."

After throwing for a career-high 391 yards in a 27-26 loss at New England, Campbell is in the hunt to be Cleveland's starter for 2014.

"I have a two-year contract here," Campbell said after Wednesday's practice. "There's an option in February on whether to bring me back or not."

Campbell's base salary for this year was $1.5 million, but he will have pocketed a bit more because of clauses tied to playing time.

He is due a $250,000 roster bonus in February. His base pay for 2014 calls for $2 million, which would double if he reaches certain incentives.

Even if he made $5 million, he would be a dirt-cheap starting quarterback if he led the Browns to the playoffs. That's a stretch, obviously, given the Browns' 4-9 record.

The early guess is that the team will bring back Campbell and Hoyer, part ways with Weeden, and draft a quarterback.

Campbell isn't assuming that, but he said, "I see a lot of upside here."

Left tackle Joe Thomas is intrigued by the thought of Campbell or Hoyer as next year's starter.

"I think both Jason and Brian have done an excellent job making a case for themselves," Thomas said. "They've both played extremely well when called upon.

"We got both of those guys in free agency for less than a king's ransom, which is usually what it takes to get a quality quarterback in this league.

"It's going to be a very tough decision in this offseason, whatever the organization decides to do at that position."

Hoyer played only two full games before blowing out a knee. Campbell's 2013 playing time is beginning to approximate Weeden's.

Page 2 of 3 - Weeden has thrown more passes than Campbell, 267-197, and has more yards, 1,731-1,324. Campbell leads Weeden 58.9-52.8 in completion percentage, 6.72-6.48 in yards per pass, and 88.0-70.3 in passer rating.

The Browns' quarterback plans are tied to emerging star Josh Gordon.

Gordon had a 10-catch, 146-yard game with Hoyer in the Browns' first 2013 win. He had a 10-catch, 261-yard game with Weeden in a recent loss to Jacksonville. He had a seven-catch, 151-yard game with Campbell at New England.

Looking ahead, Gordon isn't campaigning for or against any of them.

"There's no telling ... I'm not really sure what will happen," Gordon said. "What they want to do next year ... that's totally up to them."

Gordon did say this about Campbell:

"He's just a real smart veteran. He's got a lot of confidence. He's really tough. He takes a lot of big hits.

"Until the very last seconds of the New England game, as you saw, he kept making the right reads. He kept fighting."

Campbell is soft-spoken in the locker room, but ...

"I definitely wouldn't call him quiet," Gordon said. "He's a grown man. Real mature. He's been in the league a long time.

"He's not going to get too excited about the little things. He attacks the game as a professional. That's what I'd call him. A professional."

Brandon Marshall, a star wideout in Chicago, says he was "not surprised at all" to see that Campbell gave Tom Brady quite a duel.

"Jason is a a starter ... a starting quarterback in the NFL," Marshall said. "He was a great teammate, and he's a great guy.

"I really enjoyed playing with him. We still talk. He's a guy I'll probably stay in contact with the rest of my life."

Browns cornerback Joe Haden marvels at how far his 22-year-old teammate has come.

“There’s not too much you need to coach J.G. on,” Haden said. “He’s catching the ball. He’s running his routes well. Everything J.G. does is impressive.

“He catches it in traffic. He runs across the middle. He runs deep routes, post routes, comebacks. He runs the whole tree.”

HERBSTREIT ON QBs

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said he knows Browns fans are keeping a close watch on Johnny Manziel.

Page 3 of 3 - Herbstreit cautions against judging Manziel to be too limited to make it in the pros:

“I think he’ll have a better NFL career than most people seem to believe,” the former Ohio State quarterback said.

Herbstreit is reluctant to project pro potential before the draft process heats up, but of possible No. 1 overall pick Teddy Bridgewater, he said, “He has all the intangibles to be outstanding.”

Herbstreit said he doesn’t know enough about prospect of interest Derek Carr, calling him “a bit of a wild card.”

EXTRA POINTS

• Weeden returned to practice Wednesday but has yet to emerge from “concussion protocol” to be cleared for action in the Chicago game. If he is cleared, he will back up Campbell on Sunday against Chicago. If not, the backup will be Alex Tanney.

• The Bears aren’t saying whether Cutler or McCown will be their quarterback against the Browns. The best guess is that they will stick with the hot hand, McCown, even though Cutler has returned to practice after recovering from an ankle injury.